In some antenna applications it may be desirable to have elements that are reduced in size. Normally, a patch element is roughly half a wavelength in extent in the medium that supports it, such as, but not limited to a dielectric substrate, which may be too large on devices where space is a premium, such as mobile phones, GPS receivers and even on air and spacecraft. Other applications may include antenna arrays, where the element spacing needs to be small (in the order of half a wavelength), such as phased array antennas.
Thus, there is strong need in the industry for a stacked antenna with broad band capabilities and improved performance characteristics in a compact size.